By Aphiwe Ngowapi
On Thursday Mzwandile Kleyi, the principal of Nathaniel Nyaluza Secondary School, was escorted off the school premises by the SAPS. He was taken away in an SAPS vehicle after reportedly expressing fear of the students, despite being the one with dangerous weapons on the premises.
The situation began on Wednesday, 5 March, when the school’s water tanks ran dry. Dehydrated from the summer heat, students approached the principal to request that the tanks be refilled. The tanks were no longer being replenished with rainwater from the roof because of the asbestos piping, which poses health risks through contamination.
When Kleyi failed to address the students’ needs, they protested. Subsequently, he contacted the Makana Municipality to send a water truck to refill the drinking water tanks. However, when the municipal truck arrived, Kleyi was absent, and the students refused the water, deeming it undrinkable.
On Friday, during assembly, Kleyi called the students “ungrateful hooligans” for rejecting the municipality’s water and did not allow them to voice their concerns. The students collectively wrote a letter to the principal expressing their dissatisfaction, requesting a meeting with the school staff, the School Governing Body (SGB), and the principal on Thursday at 4 pm. They asked that letters be sent to their parents notifying them of the meeting. However, Kleyi ignored their request and did not distribute the letter or communicate with the teachers, SGB, or parents.
When Grocott’s Mail arrived on Thursday morning, the students were chanting “Kleyi uyahamba” outside his office. The principal called the SAPS, informing the SGB that the students were protesting. Following a lengthy meeting involving Kleyi, SAPS, and the school’s Representative Council of Learners (RCL) in the principal’s office, the police called for backup to escort him out of the building.
Meanwhile, staff, the SGB, SAPS, a representative from the Department of Education, and a councillor held their own meeting in the staff room.
After this meeting, students cheered as they were addressed by Mbulelo Lepile of the SGB, Mandisi Matyolo, head of the Cluster Management Centre (CMC) of the Education Department, and Mbuyiselo Mayase, the EDO of Nathaniel Nyaluza, who announced the appointment of the new acting principal, Andile Njovane, current deputy principal.
Matyolo apologized to the students for making them stand in the rain, describing it as a blessing while assuring them that the matter is under investigation and will be dealt with at the provincial level.
The new principal informed the students that classes would continue as usual on Friday and that there would be a meeting with parents.
The Friday meeting, attended by school police, teachers, the School Governing Body (SGB), parents, the Representative Council of Learners (RCL), and students, addressed the recent incident. The RCL recounted the events. This emergency meeting aimed to reassure parents and ensure they received firsthand updates from school officials, as the incident had already attracted external attention.
